Activity 5: Council Circle

Materials for Activity

Council candles (a tea light or votive candle for each participant, or some to share if group is very large)

One tea light or votive candle of a different color

Tray to hold council candles (preferably lined with sand)

Woolen or other non-flamible blanket for smothering flames in case of emergency

Optional: Glass bowl, water, and polished pebbles (for all participants, plus one extra) for alternative to council candles in tray

Optional: Newsprint, markers, and tape

Optional: A copy of the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, Singing the Living Tradition

Optional: Toolbox of Our Faith poster, clear tape or a glue stick, and one or more paper gloves decorated by children during the Opening

Preparation for Activity

Choose closing song(s), chant(s), or reading(s) from options provided under "Description of Activity" or from those regularly used in your congregation. As needed, write the words on newsprint and post. Co-leaders may wish to use the same closing ritual for each Toolbox of Faith session.

Customize, print out, and photocopy the Taking It Home section for all participants.

Prepare the chalice and lighter or matches for the Reflection. Prepare the tray of council candles, matches, safety measures, etc. for the Sharing of Joys and Concerns. Place items you will need in the center of the Council Circle.

Decide how to introduce fire safety and emergency procedures to the group. Have needed safety materials nearby.

Optional: Instead of using a tray of council candles for sharing, you can fill a glass bowl with water. Place polished pebbles next to the bowl. Ask children to come and drop a pebble in the water as they share. Or, you can have a floating council candle tray. Use a large glass vessel filled with water to hold floating tea lights or votive candles.

Description of Activity

Each session closes with a Council Circle. The goal of the Council Circle is to share our stories, listen to each other, and grow in faith together. Listening to each other is a religious act. The Council Circle includes three rituals: Reflection, Sharing of Joys and Concerns, and a Closing.

Invite participants to pass the Tool of the Day as a talking stick. Ask participants to reflect on times when they have received and have given compassion and love. You may ask:

When have you put another's needs first?

What kind of sacrifices have you made, or have been made for you?

How have you been healed by love?

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

After discussion has closed, invite participants to share important things in their lives. What they share may or may not be related to the session topic and discussion.

Invite participants to light a council candle from the chalice flame as they share. If there are not enough candles, it is OK to snuff out and re-light a candle. Save the candle of a different color for last. When all who want to share joys and concerns have done so, light this candle with the words, "For all the joys and concerns that remain unspoken."

If you are using a glass bowl, water, and stones instead of council candles, invite participants to drop a stone into the bowl when they share. End the sharing by adding one last stone for unspoken joys and concerns.

Closing

Extinguish the council candles. Gather participants around the chalice; if it has been extinguished, re-light it.

Read aloud this story from The Heart of the Enlightened by Anthony de Mello, S.J. (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1997:

Buddha was once threatened with death by a bandit called Angulimal.

"Then be good enough to fulfill my dying wish," said Buddha. "Cut off the branch of that tree."

One slash of the sword, and it was done! "What now?" asked the bandit.

'Put it back again,' said Buddha.

The bandit laughed. "You must be crazy to think that anyone can do that."

"On the contrary, it is you who are crazy to think that you are mighty because you can wound and destroy. That is the task of children. The mighty know how to create and heal."

Close with an element (meditation, benediction, song) commonly used in your congregational worship, or use one or more of the suggestions below. Base your choice(s) on the needs and energy level of your group. With your co-leaders, you may elect to use the same ritual to close every session.

A. Lead the group in singing "Meditation on Breathing," Hymn 1009 in Singing the Journey: A Hymnbook Supplement to Singing the Living Tradition. Hear the simple tune online.

B. Have the group read in unison Reading 452 by Marjorie Montgomery in Singing the Living Tradition:

Life is a gift for which we are grateful.

We gather in community to celebrate

the glories

and mysteries

of this great gift.

C. Sing or say the words to "From You I Receive," Hymn 402 in Singing the Living Tradition. Teach the group the accompanying movements.

From you I receive

Scoop the air by reaching toward other participants, then bringing air toward yourself at chest level, that is, receiving it.

To you I give

Opposite from above - scoop the air at chest level and push it outward to "give" to other participants.

Together we share

All grasp hands.

By this we live

Make fist of strength with each hand and stack one hand on top of the other at belly button level.

D. Go around the circle - using the Tool of the Day as a talking stick again, if you like -and invite each participant to say one thing they will do to express their inner thoughts and selves. A higher-energy version of the above could involve the group repeating back, chant-style, the statement of each participant, and adding, "Go out into the world and love!"

E. Sing a familiar song. Suggestions: "Thula Klizeo," Hymn 1056 in Singing the Journey; "I Know This Rose Will Open," Hymn 396 in Singing the Living Tradition; or "Rejoice in Love," Hymn 380 in Singing the Living Tradition.

F. Use this team spirit chant, "Pump It Up!"

Leader: Pump, pump, pump it up!

Group: Pump, pump, pump it up!

Leader: Pump that UU spirit up!

Group: Pump that UU spirit up!

Instead of "Pump it up!" you may use "Fire it up!" or "Keep it up!"

Pass the Tool of the Day around the circle and invite participants, one at a time, to voice a way they plan to use the quality of faith that was explored today. Guide them to say:

With my UU [quality of faith, e.g., love], I will...

Lead the group in responding to each participant's contribution:

Group: Go, UU, go!

If you have not yet done so, invite a participant to attach one of the gloves the children have decorated to the Toolbox of Our Faith poster. Write "Love" on the poster.

Extinguish the chalice. Distribute Taking It Home handouts. Thank and dismiss participants.